chaney



1956 1.. c. CHANEY 2,732,178

HAND CHAIN FOR HOISTS Filed April 1. 1953 INVENTOR.

LOUIS C. CHANEY ATTORNEY.

United States Patent HAND. CHAIN FOR HOISTS LouisC. Chaney, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. Application p... 1, 1953, Serial No. 346,149

6 Claims. c1. 2541 69) This invention relates to chain hoists and more particularly to improvements in the hand chains used with such apparatus.

Chain hoists, many di-lferent types of which are in wide-spread commercial use, usually include as elements thereof, a load chain and a hand chain. The load chain, as the name implies, carries the load and is actuated by a hoist mechanism opera-ted by the hand chain. The hand chain is a continuous chain loop which is pulled by'the hoist operator to raise or lower the load on the load chain. This hand chain passes over a sheave or guide wheel associated with the hoist mechanism and the two sides or stretches of the chain loop hang downwardly in a position accessible to the operator. If the operator pulls on one side or stretch of the hand chain the hoist mechanism is operated to lower the load; if he pulls on the other side the hoist mechanism is operated to raise the load.

Heretofore it has generally been customary to make the hand chain of symmetrical, conventionally shaped links and in some sizes of hoists the load chain and hand chain are identical or substantially so. Thus it is difficult for the hoist operator to readily determine which side or stretch of the hand chain should be pulled to raise or lower the load and in some instances to distinguish between the hand and load chains.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a hand chain for hoists, some or all of the links of which are shaped, marked or constructed to provide indicia showing the direction in which the chain is to be pulled to raise or lower the load and for distinguishing the hand chain from the load chain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hand chain of this type in which the described indicia may be readily incorporated in the chain links during the manufacture thereof without impairing the strength of the chain or adding materially to the cost thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hand chain embodying the above advantages which is of simple construction whereby it may be economically manufactured and thus sold at prices comparable with those charged for ordinary chain.

The several objects, advantages and novel details of construction of the invention will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing a chain hoist provided with a hand chain constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the hand chain shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a modified form of construction;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing still another modified form of construction; and

2,732,178 Patented Jan. 24, 1 956 Figure 5 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the plane indicated by line V--V in Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figure 1, there is-shown a conventional type of chain hoist now in commercial use. This comprises a hoist mechanism 10 here shown as being carried by a trolley 11 adapted to run on an overhead rail or track 12. The hoist mechanism 10 may be of any standard type now in commercial use and, hence, it is thought unnecessary to illustrate or describe the details thereof. The hoist is usually provided with a load sheave (not shown) for raising and lowering the load chain 13 provided with a load hook 14 to which the load is attached.

The hoist is operated by a hand chain 15 in the form of a continuous chain loop which passes over a sheave or guide wheel 16 operativelyconnected to the hoist mechanism and is suspended therefrom in a position accessible to the operator. When one side or stretch of the hand chain 15 is pulled downwardly the sheave 16 is rotated to actuate the hoist mechanism to raise the load chain and thus the load and when the other side or stretch of the hand chain is pulled downwardly the sheave 16 is rotated in the opposite direction and the hoist mechanism low- .ers the load chain.

In accordance with this invention the hand chain 15 is shaped, marked or constructed to provide indicia showing the direction in which the chain is to be pulled to raise or lower the load chain 13 and also to readily distinguish the hand chain from the load chain, which in many hoists are identical or substantially so.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5 some or all of the links 17 of the hand chain 15 may be provided with V- shaped bars or other direction indicating and identifying indicia or members 18. These members may be rectangular in cross section, as shown, or may be of any other preferred cross section. These members 18 are preferably attached to the inner faces of the sides of the links in such a position as not to interfere with the normal operation of the links. They may be made integral therewith or formed separately and welded, brazed or otherwise permanently secured thereto.

With the hand chain 15 constructed with one or more links of this type the apexes of the V-shaped bars 18 will indicate the direction in which the load chain 13 would be moved by pulling on the hand chain 15. Thus if the right-hand side or stretch of the hand chain (as viewed in Figure 1) is pulled downwardly the load chain 13 would be raised and if the left-hand side or stretch of the hand chain is pulled downwardly the load chain would be lowered. It is also obvious the indicia members 18 serve to distinguish the hand chain from the load chain which is important in the more elaborate or complicated types of chain hoists.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 3 the directional indicia is in the form of markings 19- on the surface of the chain link 20. These markings may be V-shaped or arrow-shaped as shown and may be stamped, embossed or otherwise formed on the links. These markings may obviously be applied when the links are formed and serve the same purpose of the V-shaped members 18 previously described.

Another method of producing a directional chain consists of changing the shape or design of the standard symmetrical link to an unsymmetrical one. Figure 4 shows one way in which this may be accomplished. As shown in Figure 4 the link 21 has two ends of different radii, the one end 22 having a smaller radius than the other end 23. In this form of the invention the smaller end 22 would indicate direction in the same manner as the V-shaped bars 18 and the markings 19 in the previously described forms of construction. If desired V-shaped 3 members 18 shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5 or the markings 19 shown in Figure 3 could be added to the links 21 shown in Figure 4.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the directional and identifying indicia described may be readily incorporated in some or all of the links of the hand chain economically and without impairing the strength of the chain. With hand chains for hoists constructed as herein described, the operator can readily distinguish the hand chain from the load chain and determine at a glance which side or stretch of the hand chain should be pulled to raise or lower the load on the load chain.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed 1. In a chain hoist having a hoist mechanism and a load chain actuated thereby, a hand chain for operating said hoist mechanism, said hand chain having one or more of its links provided with directional indicia to indicate the direction in which the load chain would be moved upon operation of the hand chain.

2. In a chain hoist including a hoist mechanism and a load chain actuated thereby, a hand chain for operating said hoist mechanism, said hand chain comprising a continuous loop suspended from said hoist mechanism to form two identical stretches, directional indicia embodied in some of the links of said hand chain effective in both stretches of the chain to indicate which stretch of the hand chain should be pulled to raise or lower the load chain.

3. The hand chain of claim 2 in which the directional indicia comprises substantially V-shaped bars secured to the links.

4. The hand chain of claim 2 in which the directional indicia comprises markings formed on the face of the links.

5. The hand chain. of claim 2 in which the directional indicia consists of irregular shaped links.

6. The combination with a chain hoist comprising a hoist mechanism, load chain, and hand chain sheave, of a hand chain for operating said hoist mechanism, said hand chain comprising a continuous loop suspended from said sheave with the two stretches thereof accessible to the operator, some of the links of said hand chain embodying similar directional indicia effective in both stretches of the hand chain to indicate which stretch of the hand chain should be pulled to raise or lower the load chain.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 332,053 Cole Dec. 8, 1885 878,989 Newhall Feb. 11, 1908 1,945,712 Wadd Feb. 6, 1934 1,960,371 Coffing May 29, 1934 2,018,795 Larson Oct. 29, 1935 

